


a new start

by elsironwing



Category: Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff Moment, F/M, how are they so Soft, the trailer motivated me to finish this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 10:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15705519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elsironwing/pseuds/elsironwing
Summary: In which Danny and Colleen talk about what has happened, about processing things, and about their relationship and what's to come several days post-Midland Circle.





	a new start

**Author's Note:**

> did you all see that trailer because that trailer motivated me to finish this one (and also that trailer was damn good in general)
> 
> This was a prompt I received where they wanted to see Danny and Colleen talking about things and their relationship in the aftermath of the Midland Circle mess, with the possibility of Danny taking Colleen to that place that he took Luke in lcs2. That's... exactly what this is!

It's the nightmares that are always the worst. She tries not to linger on them, tries to push them away as soon as she wakes up from them, and some days that's easier than others. Some days they hold on though, like now, where everything feels weird and  _ off _ and a little bit suffocating. It's the kind of nightmare where she knows there'll be no getting back to sleep. 

She gets up quietly, careful to not wake Danny up. He's still asleep, curled on the other side of the bed, and seems peaceful enough. He  _ needs _ the rest, badly, so she's as quiet as she can when she heads to the bathroom. 

It's almost 4am, so she doesn't feel too horrible getting up already. The sun will be up soon enough, anyway. She takes a minute to lean against the door and to just  _ breathe,  _ trying to feel a little more steady before getting in the shower. Sometimes that helps, with the nightmares. 

The past few days have been hazy, not quite feeling like they’re real. Midland Circle is gone, and what really happened was carefully covered up. They’re not supposed to talk about it - that’s what she’d been told, and honestly she doesn’t want to. It’s over, it’s done. (god does she hope that it’s over and done). But just because they aren't supposed to talk about it doesn't mean it hadn't happened. (she's all too aware that it  _ did _ )

They've not left the apartment for most of the week. She knows she’s been distant - talking doesn’t feel right, right now. She’s not even sure if she has the words for any of it, all she feels is empty and tired. (she wonders if she ignores it all, if it’ll go away). The past few days have mostly been spent sleeping, still tired and hurt and on painkillers that make her head feel not quite right. 

Danny hasn’t been much better - quiet, unfocused,  _ tired _ . They haven’t really talked, either, not really awake at the same time and neither having any words. It hurts, in a way, because she’s torn between trying to talk to him and being too empty to think too much about the fact that they haven’t been talking. Everything is wrong and out of place, where before they were in sync, now they’re disconnected and out of it. 

God, she’s  _ tired _ . 

The cold water as she steps into the shower is a shock, but she welcomes it for the seconds before it finally starts warming up. She stands there for a few minutes without moving, shutting her eyes and taking another moment to breathe before starting to wash her hair. Gives her something to do, something to focus on. 

She gets out and dries off quickly, pulling on the same clothes she'd had on before, with the exception of the shirt. Claire had recommended that she keep some sort of bandaging over the cuts until they'd healed more, and she now realizes that they'd been left on the counter last night. 

She shuts the light off in the bathroom before opening the door quietly, stepping out into the still-dark room and heading for the kitchen area. 

“Colleen?” Danny’s voice sounds rough from sleep, still tired, and she hears the bed creak a bit as he stirs. 

She turns around, watching as he sits up, pushing the blankets aside. “Morning,” she hesitates, “I guess. It's still early, you don't have to get up.” 

He makes a noncommittal noise as she turns and steps into the kitchen, grabbing the bag of medical supplies and moving it to the table. 

“Hey, let me help with that,” Danny says, still sounding sleepy, reaching over to turn on one of the smaller lights before he joins her. 

She doesn't argue, there's no point, just pushes the bag over to him so he can get what's needed. He's cautious as he spreads the bandage out over the cut on her stomach, and gentle as he uses the tape to secure it. Every touch is light and careful, which she appreciates. It still hurts, and she can tell that the medicine is wearing off. The constant ache is starting to come back.

She turns around and moves her still-dripping hair out of the way so Danny can cover the second cut as well. When he finishes he presses a light kiss to her shoulder before stepping out of the way to let her tug her shirt back on. 

“Will you come somewhere with me today, right now?” He asks. 

“Where? And it's still very early.” she replies as she packs the spare bandages and tape back into the bag, before turning to look at him. 

“It's a surprise. And it's beautiful there in the mornings, when the sun is rising,” he adds, smiling now. It hits her, then, that this is the first time she's seen him smile in days. It's hard to not feel sad about that. 

“Okay, I’ll come.” She smiles a little too, grabbing his hand for just a moment before she goes to find jeans to put on. 

The drive is quiet, the bright lights of the city blurring outside the window. There isn't any pressure to talk, which she's grateful for, because it's still a bit too early for that. Most of the drive she spends just watching the city, and she doesn't pay all that much attention to  _ where _ they're going, so she's surprised when he stops where they do. 

“Columbia?” she asks, looking over at Danny to give him a questioning look, making sure that this is where he meant to stop. 

“Just trust me.” He smiles, again. 

He takes her hand as he leads her along a sidewalk that heads more away from the school, and eventually to an area that overlooks the city. And it's  _ beautiful _ , he wasn't kidding. 

The sun is starting to rise and the sky is a beautiful mix of colors, but it's still dark enough that the lights of the city are bold and bright. Danny grips her hand a little tighter as they walk to stand closer to the benches at the edge. 

“My father brought me here a lot as a kid. I’ve always loved it, it’s peaceful. Still.” Danny says as he moves to stand a little closer to her. 

He’s right - it’s peaceful, and she finds herself relaxing. It’s colder than she thought this morning, so she tucks her hands into the pockets of her light jacket, shutting her eyes for a moment and just  _ breathing _ . She startles, briefly, when she feels the weight of something around her shoulders before she realizes that it’s Danny’s hoodie. She only hesitates for a moment before sliding her arms into the too-big sleeves and zipping it up. 

“Thank you.” 

“You okay?” 

“No.” it’s out before she can stop it, before she realizes that maybe she shouldn’t. It’s the first time she’s really admitted it out loud, to herself even, and she wraps her arms across her stomach and doesn’t quite look over at him. “I’m not.” 

Admitting it is a relief. Admitting it makes her feel sick. 

“It’s… it’s been a lot, the past couple weeks. The past few  _ days _ , even. But we can’t… we can’t pretend that it didn’t happen.” He says slowly, and she finally turns to look at him, hating the fact that he’s right. 

“I know. I just don’t even know how to process that it happened,” she laughs, but not with amusement, gripping the hem of the hoodie and looking back out across the city. “Everything with Bakuto… you’re right. It’s a lot.” 

“Bakuto, he’s dead now,  _ gone _ . The Hand is broken apart, and whatever is left of it… they’re not going to be thinking about you. You realize that, don’t you? They’re not going to be coming after you.” he gives her a look now, one of relief and tiredness and something else, something she can’t quite place. “I think that this time you really are completely free of them.” 

He’s right - he  _ is _ , it’s just not something that she’s let herself think about. Hearing it is strange. 

“I was with them for a  _ long _ time. I didn’t think it would be possible to get away from them... I just don’t think it’s really settled in yet,” she says, shaking her head. “Honestly, nothing that’s happened the past couple weeks has settled in.” 

“Yeah,” he frowns. “I haven’t heard anything from the others, either. I don’t think anyone has been taking it all that well. I’m not sure if I want to hear from them, I just… I still feel  _ guilty _ .” 

“Murdock’s death wasn’t your fault. He chose that - that’s on  _ him _ , not you, okay?” Colleen reaches out for him, grabbing his hand again. “You have to understand that. You can’t beat yourself up about something that wasn’t your fault.” 

“I guess I do know that it’s not my fault, not  _ really _ , but that doesn’t make the guilt go away. He told me to protect the city, and I’m… I’m not sure how to do that, yet. But that’s the last thing he told me.” he shakes his head. “It was important to him.” 

Colleen nods, not quite sure how to answer that, what to say. She hadn’t known Murdock as much as he had, but she knew that his death has been taking a toll on Danny. There’s been too much death, recently. 

“I guess where I’m going with all of this is, we’ve got a lot of shit to figure out, to work through.” He adds. 

“Yeah, we do.” She pauses. “And what about us? What are we doing, Danny?” she hates saying it, but knows that she has to. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them to ignore any of it any longer. 

All they’ve been doing for the past several months is running, tracking the Hand across the world while simultaneously ignoring all of the shit that had just happened. Everything that had gone wrong between  _ them _ . Part of her is still afraid that having this talk will finally break what they have, that maybe what they’ve built the last few months is still too fragile. Colleen’s never been all that good at relationships, they never seemed to work. But this time? She’s sure that she’s falling very, very in love with him. And it’s terrifying. 

“I don’t know, I don’t. But I  _ do _ know this - I care about you, so much, more than anyone else I’ve known since coming but. And that’s not going to change.” He hesitates. “But we can’t keep going like this. We have to talk, we can’t hide things, because what we have means too much to me to ruin it over something stupid. We’ve hurt each other before, I don’t want to do that again.  _ Ever _ .” 

She’s tired, she’s hurting, it’s been a draining couple of weeks. So it doesn’t really surprise her that she’s halfway to crying now from his words, because it’s  _ Danny _ . He wears his heart on his sleeve and he’s being completely, perfectly sincere, and she knows that he means every word with his whole being. 

    “I’m guilty of it - not talking - probably more than you. Talking about problems doesn’t come that easy to me. But I want to make this work, make  _ us _ work, if that’s what you want. So I’ll try harder. It’s worth it.” He smiles a little. 

      “I do. I do want that, I mean. You gave me a second chance that I  _ never _ deserved, and I'm thankful for that every single day.” she hesitates. “And I love you - I’m more and more sure of that every day. I want to make this work.” 

He cups her face gently, wipes away a tear she didn’t even know was there. “You did deserve that second chance, you always have.  _ Always _ .” He smiles at her now, fully this time, bright and warm and  _ Danny _ . “I love you, too, more than anyone else.” 

It feels so easy then, so  _ right _ , to lean in to kiss him. He meets her halfway and his lips are warm against her’s, one hand still cupping her face and the other resting on her lower back, urging her closer. When they break apart she leans her head against his and smiles, before letting him pull her into a hug, his face tucked against her neck. 

They’ve still got a lot to deal with, she’s well aware of that - but this feels like something  _ right _ . This moment, right now, is a new start. 

**Author's Note:**

> As far as I'm concerned, this did happen in canon, it just wasn't shown on screen. Also I personally headcanon that this is maybe the first time they really said that they love each other, so do with that as you will. I enjoyed writing this one, and like I mentioned, the trailer today motivated me to finish it! 
> 
> Give me prompts guys I love prompts and maybe that trailer today gave you all some ideas for me? ;) But really though, this was a prompt fill that I would never have thought of myself and it's one of my favorites I've done. So thank you to you all who send me them, and really to all of you in general <3


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